Frida, the Heroic Rescue Dog,
Saves Lives After Mexico’s Earthquake
“Photos
& videos of a rescue dog named Frida have gone viral- complete with her
cute-yet-necessary work uniform: doggie goggles, vest & 4 protective,
Velco-strapped booties. She has become a 4-legged symbol of hope during these
dark times in Mexico.
…the
7-year-old yellow Labrador retriever has… become a media sensation.
…prior
to the earthquake, Frida (she’s named after the artist Frida Kahlo) had helped
rescue 12 people & recover the bodies of 40 people during her career as a
disaster rescue dog with the Mexican Navy’s (SEMAR) Canine Unit.
Working
with 14 other dogs in the unit, she has located 12 victims of the Sept. 19
quake so far.
Frida’s
first mission after the earthquake struck was to find survivors at the Enrique
Rebsamen School in Mexico City…
The
disaster rescue dogs can reach areas that are inaccessible to human responders,
including spaces that are less than 20 inches high. When they find a victim
who’s alive, the dogs bark…
Like
the other dogs in the Canine Unit, Frida began training when she was just 2
months old. The skills the dogs show in training determine whether they will go
on to detect people, narcotics or explosives.
To
train dogs to find people, they are first taught to fetch toys & balls.
Once they learn how to do that, their trainers run with the toy or ball in
their hands. The dogs learn to associate the smell of the person with the
reward of the ball, Salinas told the L.A. Times. Before they’re ready to be
dispatched to disaster areas, the dogs train for about 3 hours a day for a
year.
Just 2
weeks before the Sept. 19 earthquake, Frida helped locate the body of a
policeman after a massive 8.1 quake struck Juchitan. She also worked in Ecuador
after an earthquake there in April last year.
Before
Frida won the hearts of the rest of the world, even the president of Mexico,
Enrique Pena Nieto, was a fan of hers…”
Laura
Goldman
Sept.
25/ 2017
care2.com
Cute Critter Pic
Weekly Chuckle
Memorial
No comments:
Post a Comment